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Wondering what it takes to make an app that lasts?
Nowadays, with the use of applications, people can use their mobile devices to do just about anything: check-in for flights, make a payment, check their bank accounts, send emails, order a taxi, communicate with friends, and so much more.
It’s no surprise, then, that mobile app development is a flourishing business. Last year, the app industry saw a 40% increase in income, with publishers earning $35 billion from iOS and Android app stores.
While more than 60,000 apps are being released every month, not all of them are kept on a user’s phone for more than a few days. Designing a successful mobile app that is effective, efficient, and able to compete with the more than 3 million apps available in the digital marketplace is required for your app’s success in the digital marketplace.
To ensure your app’s likeability and longevity, let’s count down the top 5 things you need for your app.
5 Things You Need For Your App
5/ Text Content
Let the words do the talking. Having clear, concise copy is crucial for your app. Sure, you can have a well-designed app with awesome graphics, but without any context, you aren’t exactly building a relationship with the user.
Copy defines the purpose of your business, increases visibility with SEO, guides each user through a journey and experience, and influences them to engage, purchase and use your product or service. It makes them feel something about your brand and connects them to your offer. This is especially important for your onboarding.
It’s all based on psychology:
- Know your users and their problems
- Be personable
- Be transparent and clear
If done right, text context and design go hand in hand to fully optimize your app for high-rate conversions.
4/ Social Media Integration
Users nowadays want a frictionless mobile experience, which means you must make sharing as simple (and fun) as possible. Find clever ways to promote sharing their experiences on their social media that make them feel comfortable.
For example, Noom makes its users feel accomplished by sending them a message when they’ve hit a milestone. It shows that they’re paying attention to their customers, providing them with support, and offering them to share that experience with others. In other words: it makes the user feel good.
Keep it even easier by integrating social network profiles to help your app collect more user data and reach out to more potential users rather than requiring users to register a separate login account.
3/ A User-Friendly and Responsive Interface
In the way that people judge books by their covers, they do exactly the same for apps. When you’re one app out of 258 billion app downloads worldwide, you need to have an app that people find both familiar and better than what they were using before.
People desire simple, easy-to-use, and intuitive mobile app features. While a brilliantly colored app with a million different functions may seem like a good idea, it’s better to focus on the most critical features while removing those “basic” or unnecessary ones.
To ensure that your app design meets users’ desires for simplicity and ease of use, you must conduct research to establish exactly what your users demand and how to provide those needs in the most efficient manner possible.
Secondly, make sure your app allows your users to accomplish their goals quickly and effectively. If your app is fast in its loading time, more people are likely to keep your app. If they have to wait a long time for your app to load, they’re likely to become frustrated and abandon it.
2/ A Strong Brand
Users are loyal. They go with the brand that they know and trust because that company has created a connection with them in some way. Users want to work with brands that they resonate with, not just ones that look cool or show off. Make sure your brand values are at the forefront and are marketed toward people with those same values and lifestyles.
Not only that, but they want a brand that also offers a high-quality product. Ever heard of the saying, “when you order _____ on Wish”? People say this when something seems cheap or low quality. Give them something they want to brag about!
1/ A Solution to A Problem
The very first thing you need for your app is a product that solves a problem. Your users are looking for a way to save them time and energy in their day-to-day.
Consider what you look for when you have a headache. When you head to the cabinet for a solution, are you reaching for the vitamins or the medicine? You’re likely going to grab the quickest solution that you know will work, right?
Before you even start designing an app, you need to make sure your product or service is going to solve that problem. Once you have that offer, you can then focus on how it’s going to do it better than the rest.
BONUS: Customer Feedback
You might think that once you launch, you’re good to go.
That’s hardly ever the case. As soon as people start using their app, they are going to have something to say about it – and likely suggestions on how to make it better.
Customer feedback in an app is an essential mobile app feature you need to have. Providing a means for consumers to voice their opinions demonstrates that you care about their experience and this, in turn, improves your app. Having a plan in place post-launch to make changes right away based on this feedback will make the process smoother for both you and your users.
Ready to stand out?
The competition in the app store doesn’t mean your mobile app can’t stand out. If you want your mobile app to stand out and be successful, you’ll need more than just a marketing strategy to break through the clutter.
Remember, you’re trying to offer an app that helps people do something better, not just as good. If that were the case, they wouldn’t keep looking for something that adds more value to their life and saves them more time. At EX Squared, good enough is never enough. Hell, we might not have all the answers at first, but we won’t stop until it’s figured out.
With over 11 years of UX and design experience under our belt, building an app that contains these 5 needs is a piece of cake. The challenge? We strive to make sure it’s a product that makes your users keep coming back for more…and we’re up for that challenge.
Send your deets here to get started on your next big thing!